I left the closing performance of The Vagina Monologues yesterday at the Freddy Wood theatre not entirely sure how I felt about this year’s performance. This would be third year I’ve gone to the UBC VDay performance, and the first in which it was held at that venue. I wasn’t really a fan of the previous one (the Music Auditorium), so I thought this was an improvement.
I think the biggest problem with the performance was the costumes. Normally this isn’t a problem, so it took me a while to see it as one. The costumes just didn’t work. I couldn’t believe the actors were the people the monologues were supposed to be from. It wasn’t the actors were worse than the ones in previous years. They just often weren’t good enough to get past the inappropriate costumes.
For me, the “Coochie Snorcher” monologue was worst for this — the actor’s glistening pink cocktail dress just wouldn’t let me believe she was the girl in the piece. I mention this monologue for a second reason — each time I see it, the more it disturbs me. Its message just doesn’t fit with the rest of the play, and with it, seems to say, “rape is good for you if women do it.”
